Adventure Quest

2 – Introducing Ben, or the life of an 11 year old from Boston

"Please return to your seats and switch on the protection chamber," said a nice woman's voice from the speaker. Ben was already in his seat looking out the window. It was a sunny day. The airport was crowded with spacecrafts and air-busses, both clinging to the sides of the massive building. The building was almost completely transparent, with see-through walls. It was so nice to stand in there and look outside, to where all the spacecrafts and busses took off to different planets and locations on earth. Ben thought of how he stood there just fifteen minutes ago.

Ben looked on the panel beside him, finding the 'Auto-Protection Chamber' button. He pushed it and right away a light-blue force field surrounded him. Under it was immediately pumped cool conditioned air, even with a sent of pines. Ben curiously looked outside the force field. The whole spacecraft was filled with kids, most of them still standing near their seats and happily chatting with each other. Ben had no-one on this plane he knew, so he couldn't really chat with anyone. All his 'camp-friends' are from different parts of the US and so they will be arriving from their own cities, in other spacecrafts.

Man, this is gonna be so fun! Ben thought as his heart pounded with excitement: he was going to planet Zong again!

Being 11, Ben has already been to the planet twice. And this time was gonna be more exciting than ever: he and his pals are finally gonna be allowed to enter the 'Tough Zone'. That's how the smaller kids called the 'Intensified Survival Training Zone', or ISTaZ as most larger kids called it. Kids bellow age 11 are not allowed to enter the ISTaZ jungle, and Ben wanted to so much!.. Ever since he hooked up with Kyle last year. Ben smiled as he remembered the cute freckly face, that transmitted constant movement and energy. In the beginning Kyle was shy a little bit and made an impression of a quiet kid. Boy, was that far from the truth! When Ben got to know him – it turned out that he is the most hyperactive boy Ben ever met in his life! He was the kind of boy Ben always dreamed of being: he was the one to come up with all the crazy ideas, to be the brave one, to do crazy dangerous things, to lead the whole gang towards trouble. Ben was just the other way around: he was the rational one, the one that always thinks before doing, the one that balances Kyle's 'insane' ideas… And even though he was considered the leader of the gang as he was the one with the 'rational head', he secretly admired Kyle. And wanted to be more like Kyle was, to be the one to light the fire of excitement, instead of saying: "What are you, nuts?! We can't do that!" But he knew that the rest of the kids in their little group depended on him.

The group formed over the last two years Ben visited the planet. He didn't know anyone of the kids the first time when he went, all his pals from home were either coming to the planet later or not coming to it at all. Most of the kids spent time with their parents on some sort of vacation before heading to Zong. And Ben had only one parent – his mom – and she was always too depressed to go anywhere on vacation this time of year: it was the time her marriage fell apart and she got divorced. It was nine years ago and she is still getting depressed.

Ben doesn't remember his father at all, since he was only two years old when Brad (that's his father's name according to Ben's ID) took off and never seen him since. He does have a warm memory of a close man that used to play with him and tell him stories and hug him and kiss him… But when he tries to remember this man's image, when he tries to focus of his face – he can't. So father remained a shadow figure in Ben's eyes. Sometimes he would start missing his dad, even though he didn't remember him at all… But all of that changed this year. When Ben turned 11 he received a letter addressed to him in the Email box. Mom didn't invade his privacy and called him to read it. Ben was surprised, he never received a letter addressed to him before. But when he started to read it his excitement faded and tears appeared in his eyes. It was a letter from his father.

He asked Ben not to show that letter to Mom and told him not to reply it either. Then he said that he finally found the strength to write to his dear boy, after such a long time. He said there is no day that goes by when he (dad) in not thinking about Ben. Always wondering: how did his boy turn out? What does he like to do? How is his life going? Does he look like his old man? And so on. Then he said he misses Ben like crazy but can't ever see him again because of what happened with Ben's mother. And that he loves Ben with all his heart and soul and wishes Ben all the luck in the world… After Ben read the letter he was filled with frustration: there was no reply address, no phone number, not even a smallest crack of hope for hearing or seeing his dad again. The shadow figure materialized and formed a man that Ben desperately wanted to see, feel, love… But he couldn't. Ever.

Ben asked mom about what really happened between her and dad that made him take off so far and never return. Mom ducked away from the answer and Ben never got a clear reply. That was even more frustrating.

Well, there was one bright side to all of this: Ben got to go to planet Zong in the AdventureQuest program every year, cause his mother was raising him alone and had some special rights because of that. Well… Rights or no rights, they still lived in a lower-class building, with shitty conditions. Almost every day after school Ben would have to cram into an overcrowded turbolift because only a half of them worked. Half of the lifts in his building were broken. Not to mention that ALL the Maglifts were 'out of order' for like two years now and using the turbolifts… Turbo, yeah, right. They were invented like 50 years ago and it takes 10 minutes just to get to his 3256th floor. With a Maglift he could get there in a few dozen seconds…

They had a one-bedroom apartment that was narrow as a corridor. But whatever, it was okay. The last year though it turned into a two-bedroom apartment since Ben arranged himself a bed in the 'living room'. He didn't quite could point out why, but since he had a sudden growth spurt concerning his private parts he started to be ashamed of undressing and sleeping in the same room his mom was in.

Life was pretty much boring. He went to school, did his hours at the constantly malfunctioning compdesk like a prisoner, returned home and usually spent time in front of the home computer. Since his mom was a reporter they had a full-profile computer at home. That was something that kids rarely had and Ben was proud of it. He loved building 3D worlds of amazing complexity and graphic levels, and then walk around them using the advanced VR kit on the side of their machine. It was a poor imitation of the real thing: Zong.

When Ben was nine he was first sent to the AdventureQuest camp. At first he was a little afraid: a boy, all alone, heading for a huge wild planet with no grownups to support him. But during the flight he met a very nice boy named Sammy. Sammy, being the same age as Ben, was also a first-time visitor. They became best friends even before the flight was over. When they first arrived to the planet it was dazzling! Green everywhere, mighty trees, caves, lakes, rivers… It was all the wonders of nature Ben had only seen on TV… It was breathtaking. And having his friend on his side it seemed even better. Ben and Sammy became un-separable. They did everything together. They built a home together (set up a plastic tent), found food together and roamed the woods together. They both had a natural instinct to explore, to get in touch with nature…

That's how the first vacation of Ben on the planet flew by. And it did fly by, it was so depressing to return home again!..

Now, the rest of the year seemed not important, just something you had to live through until the next summer break comes. Sammy lived across town and Ben and him kept spending lots of time together, planning their next trip to Zong.

Finally, it came. Their second time they returned already like veterans and set up a resident spot in a cave, in sector 32B of zone 'Green-Jungle C43-A'. It was a large cave, and they had it all to themselves. But soon a 'homeless' kid asked to join them. It was one of the boys they met in the center while their location was being determined. It was Kyle… Now they were three. All close friends. They lived like brothers, just having fun for the first two weeks. Then, another resident was added to the cave: it was a boy that was one year older than the rest of them. Kyle said it was his friend from school. His name was Jaqule – Ben had no idea why – but everyone just called him Jook.

That was their small 'brigade'. They had lots of good times together, just having fun and bonding in the wild. Kyle convinced them to go through the ISTaZ training back then, at the end of last year's summer, so they won't waste time this year. Back then Ben was a little upset for the few weeks of hard work and learning that seemed hard after being two months out by themselves on Zong. But now he understood how good was it that they made the training last year and didn't have to do it now. But to say the truth, even the training was fun, as long as he was together with his friends. And it was all just great… Until it was time to return again.

It was bad enough to say goodbye to Kyle and Jook that Ben got so attached to during this summer… But when he and Sammy returned home another blow fell on them: Sammy's parents were moving away, to PhilaYork. Of course as the parents said – it wasn't that bad. So what, PhilaYork – when even with the DarkeningGreens galaxy there is a direct communication, just without video, through his home videophone. But now you can't grab Sammy by the hand and run laughing, you can't hug him or throw him on the soft carpet. All that was left to do was to stare at each other on the monitor and say with a stupid expression: "How is it goin'? Okay? It's okay here too…."

The school year was long and annoying. And now finally, finally… he is going back to Zong!!!

Once again Ben's heart jumped with excitement. He nervously breathed the conditioned pine-smelling air into his lungs and looked outside the window, drawing out of his memories.

Figures. Still standing, waiting for take-off confirmation. "Geez, where are we going to take off already?!" – thought Ben angrily. Through the light-blue protection field the runways around the spacecraft seemed purple and all the world was slightly blueish. Ben smiled as he remembered how he was fascinated by this cloudy force-field the first time he took this trip…

Oh, finally, movement!!!

The spacecraft raised above the runway (Ben felt a floating sensation in his tummy!) and took off so fast that Ben didn't even had time to swallow the gulp that was stuck in his throat. All he could think was: AdventureQuest, HERE I COME!!!!!

>>next chapter–green>>

3 – Andi and Jenny, or About Computer Hackers

Andi read the letter his father gave him over and over again, hoping he would wake up from a bad dream, but he knew it was unlikely. The letter read:

Mr. 23LW-BD132-1554-A Ronald Parker,

because of the phenomenal results of his classes, your son, 23LW-BD132-1554-B Andrew Parker has been assigned to the AdventureQuest program on Zong. Please prepare him for departure on Saturday, 5:30 AM, 23LM-AA001-0002 Airport.

The 23LW Little Wood AdventureQuest department.

Other boys would be happy to be picked for AdventureQuest, but not so Andi. He was a small, 9 year old boy, with short blond hair and gray eyes. He was still missing two teeth, and looked at least two years younger than he really was. He had a great smile, if you were happy enough to get one as he usually was quite shy and had a stern look.

Andi lived in Little Woods with his dad as long as he could remember, only having a very distant memory of a figure he used to call 'mom' when he was very small. Just like his father, he was much more interested in computers than in other people, and once he started school, he never had a real friend, save maybe for Jenny, whom he met about half a year ago, in VR, when he was desperately looking for help to repair the TV that he disassembled in an attempt to understand how it worked. Jenny was really nice to him, and with her help, the repair only took him three hours and so he was finished before his dad got home. Afterwards they regularly met in VR, and Andi was even allowed a sleepover, though he told his dad Jenny were his age instead of the truth that she was a grown up woman of 25 years, doing some kind of computer job.

The next weeks, Jenny became something like a mother for him. His dad rarely had time for him, and one day Andi decided he had to learn about his real mom. As he hated bureaucracy he did not officially request to see his files but instead hacked into the registration office to download his file. It was much like a game for him, he never got caught before, and as he didn't plan to stay there for long, he didn't see any danger doing so. When he read through his files though, he simply forgot his intention:

23LW-BD132-1554-B Andrew Parker,
born in 23LW-BD002-0124 State-hospital.
father: 23LW-BD132-1554-A Ronald Parker
mother: died during childbirth.

Mother died during childbirth!

It couldn't be. He had some memories of his mom, at least of whom he thought being his mom. Andi started crying and totally forgot about the rest of the world.

Ronald Parker was totally caught off guard when the police arrived arresting his sobbing child. The officer was a reasonable person. After calming the Andi down, he understood that the child just wanted to learn about his mom. He sent him home with the warning never to do this again. Andi knew he had a police record now and expected him being really angry, but his father didn't even talk to him about what happened.

Most other boy of his age would have been scared to death by this event, but not so Andi. Once he was at home again, he already thought of a way to get rid of his police record. Only a few days later, he cut a new caper: he hacked into the police computer in order to delete his record. However he learned that it was much more secure than any other computer he hacked in before, and soon found himself arrested again. This time they didn't let him go, though, they send him into an 'Institution for bad boys' for the next three months. He never told anyone what happened there, he only knew he learned one important lesson for himself: never to be caught again.

When he got back home, he immediately called Jenny: "Jenny, I need your help. Can I come over to you this night?"

"Sure. You haven't called for a long time…"

"See you later!"

After explaining what happened three months ago, Andi finally dared to ask her: "Jenny, I need my police records cleared, and I need someone to teach me not to be caught again. For as far as I know of you, you are really good. Will you help me?"

"Easy little one, what you want me to do is quite a big deal. You can't really expect me to do all this for free?"

Andi had looked really disappointed. "Sure, but I don't think I have anything to offer…"

Jenny was quite wealthy, she had a big apartment in the better parts of the town, so there wouldn't be anything she needed that Andi could give her. "I better leave then."

"Listen little one!" Jenny was the only one Andi allowed to call him that. "If I help you now, I expect you to help me once later on when I might need your help. This could be in a month, in a year or even in 10 years. Just don't forget it. And of course you may not tell anyone what you'll learn from me nor that I did teach you at all."

With a big sigh of relief Andi accepted. He got his records cleared and within the next two months he learned much about computer security. Jenny was even better at it than his dad.

Andi read the letter one last time, then switched off the computer. When he got his records cleared, he didn't expect to be appointed to AdventureQuest, and it would be three boring months to come. He had a big argue with his dad, who said that if he wouldn't go, Andi wouldn't be allowed to use the computer during this holidays, and as Jenny got a security job at the gate station the next two months, this would even be more boring than the camp, so Andi decided to go. To show his protest however, he wouldn't talk a word till the camp was over. The last thing Jenny did before departure was to convince Andi to do the ISTaZ-training. Even though he was too young to go to the ISTaZ, there was much to learn for him, and Andi's mood used to brighten up as long as there was something to learn.

When he was packing is bag, he was amazed how few things he really needed for the camp. Safe for his clothes, he only took his Compbook and a few disks, three of which he got from Jenny, one about numeric, one about Cryptology and the last one being her favorite novel. He randomly selected two other novels from his own disks as well as the knife Jenny had bought him and called his dad he were ready to go.

>>next chapter–blue>>

4 – One rich kid named Nate

5:30 Am… 5:30 Am… Wake up time… wake up time… 5:30 AM… Wake…

Nate rolled over on his side and pulled the sheets over his head, trying to shut out the stupid wake up sequence, but it didn't work. It never did. The stupid horse's-ass synthesized female voice just continued to grow louder and louder, until it felt as though it had penetrated his cranium and was shouting from within.

5:30 AM… 5:30 AM… Wake up time… Wake up time…

Nate couldn't take it any longer. He sat up and tried to jump out of bed a little too quickly, got tangled up in the sheets and fell to the floor. The wake up sequence went silent. Nate sat on the floor for a couple of minutes leering at the bed. What kind of a sadist would invent a wake up sequencer like this for a human being? A cattle prod would have been more humane.

Eventually Nate untangled himself from the sheets and walked clumsily to the bathroom. He stood before the bright waterless Sani-Vape, yawned and let go a stream of urine that seemed endless. Finally the flow ended and he watched as the familiar blue vapor-like mist poured over the opening of the Sani-Vape then dissolved, leaving it spotless and dry. Nothing but the best for the honorable Senator Daton's son. He went to the medicine cabinet and pulled out an oral hygiene pod and popped it into his mouth, enjoying the fruity taste and tingly sensation as it cleaned and strengthened his teeth and gums. He stripped off his night clothes and tossed them into the laundry chute, then set the shower timer and waited. You couldn't change the time for wet or rinse, after all, even the rich and affluent had to conserve water these days, but you could set the time between the cycles. Mat set it for ten minutes as he always did. After about thirty seconds the shower door opened and Nate stepped in. The door closed and a fine mist of hot water covered his skinny body, waking him up. When the mist stopped he lathered his hair using his favorite shampoo powder, the one that smelled like strawberries. Ten he filled his hand with oil-based body wash from the dispenser and lathered up his body. He took another hand full of body wash and applied it to his genitals, enjoying the slippery friction. Nate loved to masturbate. It was one of the few pleasures life had to offer that he had full control over. His libido was at it's peak in the morning. Coupled with the fact that the shower gave him complete privacy made masturbating in the shower a daily morning ritual. Just as he reached a nice, dry orgasm, thus completing his favorite daily activity, the water came back on, rinsing him thoroughly. He had timed it perfectly, as always.

Nate got out of the shower, dried off and got dressed. Still not believing what he was about to is put through he sat down at his computer desk and for the umpteenth time, read the letter accepting him into the AdventureQuest.

United World Congress
Office of Educational Recreation

Name: Nathaniel Oliver Daton
Sex: Male
Age: 11
Height: 5 feet 4 inches [1.63 m]
Weight: 91 LBS [41 kg]
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown
Residence: Southern California Metropolis, Zone 8, Block C, Space 40
Retinal scan: REQUIRED

The above named child has been accepted to attend this year's AdventureQuest program sponsored by the Office of Educational Recreation. Attendance is mandatory once accepted. All participants will report to their regional AdventureQuest training facility at 1100 hours Zulu time on June 16 for further instruction. Participants are encouraged to bring enough personal effects to last one week.

Be assured that your child will enjoy a fun filled and educational summer at AdventureQuest. We look forward to seeing him.

Best Regards:

General Forest Hamilton
Director, AdventureQuest

Nate looked away from the letter shaking his head. He really did not want to do this. Why should he go shooting off to some other planet when he had everything he needed here? He had his computer, his books, his VR (virtual reality) game console, a nice two bedroom suite and a ½ acre lot to play in. Let the poor boys who lived in those cramped and miserable tower-towns go there. Besides, he preferred to be alone. He didn't get along well with other kids. They teased him and called him names like stickboy or Zipperboy. "Hey, Zipperboy! If ya turn sideways and stick your tongue you look just like a zipper." He was a very skinny boy and tall for his age. The zone medical attendant once told him that he could tread water in a test tube. People could be so cruel. That's why he could live without them.

Nate understood that getting accepted to the camp was a big deal. Only so many could go there each summer and he should feel lucky. After all, his father had to twist quite a few arms in order to let him in, and reminded him of that fact daily.

Oh well. He was accepted and now it was too late to back out. He picked up the necessities pack conveniently left on his night table and headed downstairs for breakfast, if that's what you called a meal served this early.

>>next chapter–purple>>

6 – Aaron, Manuel and Andi

Saturday came just as expected. Andi woke up by the normal wakeup ritual:

First his bot pulled away his blanket, when this had no effect, it took Andi's pillow and with a 'thump' it hit his head. As always, Andi struggled and got control of the pillow, throwing it back at the bot, who finally hit Andi's face with a stream of cold water. No longer able to ignore, Andi finally gave in and stood up. As fun as it was programming the bot, Andi wished he had an elder brother instead, the same ritual each morning was getting boring.

Andi showered and prepared breakfast, then called his dad who brought him to the airport. After a brief goodbye he joined the other kids waiting for the flight. As expected, Andi was the smallest boy, and thus the prime target of the others' teasing. He tried to evade any conflict, desperately hoping for the three months to pass. Especially a group of four boys, all about 14 or 15, made life hard for him. One of them pushed him to the ground, while the others made fun of him like "Wonder how he's escaped kindergarten, he can't even walk yet, that little baby." Andi's head turned red in shame as everyone else was laughing. Happily, just at that moment the boarding light turned green, so he just grabbed his back and ran to the shuttle. He put his bag under the middle seat in the back and sat down. One after another the other kids came in, but the places next to Andi remained empty. The four bullies sat down three rowed in front of him. Andi slowly relaxed as none seemed to be interested in teasing him anymore. After a while, a group of three older boys came in. They looked much like the Daltons, some outlaws from an ancient comic he read a while ago, just that there were only three of them. One of them was very tall, and it looked like he was just trying not to trip over his own legs. The second one was very muscular and looked really dangerous. He had short brown hair being held by a white sweatband. The last one was small, black haired, tanned, probably Mexican or Puerto Rican.

The reason why Andi was paying that much attention to them was the fact that the smallest of them was directly pointing at him, they were talking and then two of them sat down across the corridor while the muscular one took place next to Andi, who was sure he was in big trouble now. But then the day took an unexpected turn. The boy just said "Hi, I'm Aaron" and when he was ignored, shrugged and started reading a book. They were silently sitting next to each other for a while till they were asked to switch on the protection chamber for takeoff.

Andi had a strange feeling in his tummy when they left earth's pull, he was sure this wasn't his first takeoff, but as hard as he tried, he couldn't remember when or where he was before, the memories were as distant as these of his mom.

"You are alone, without friends?" Andi heard a distant voice, but it wasn't part of his memories. He realized that the other boy, Aaron, was talking to him.

"How about joining my friends and me at Zong?"

Andi couldn't believe what he heard. "Why would you want me to join you?" He just realized he just broke his vow not to talk, even before they arrived at the camp.

"Well, there are three reasons," Aaron said, "First we have an empty spot in our team. Chris, our former leader, has become too old for AdventureQuest." He looked directly into Andi's eyes. "Second, we need a tickle-boy."

"A what?"

"A tickle-boy. You know, a boy whom we can tickle if we want. Last year we captured a boy of the gang that was attacking our treehouse. We were tickling him till he told us the way to their camp where we captured their banner. It was really fun, especially the tickling session. But we'd prefer a willing target."

"You must be silly, I'll never allow you to tickle me, why should I?"

"Maybe you don't want to be alone. Maybe you want some friends?"

Maybe the boy was right, Andi never had friends before, and especially the smallest of the three looked nice. "You were talking about a treehouse?"

"Yes, that's the third reason. We need someone to take over the treehouse when we are too old for the camp."

"And why me?"

"You are perfect. You are alone, you are young and you are really cute."

Andi blushed. None ever considered him 'cute'. He was ticklish as hell, one could easily tickle him to death. But he was quite sure he would do it as maybe this was a way to avoid a boring camp. And if he'd say no, they could just capture him and do it anyway.

"Can you introduce me to your friends first?"

"Ok, let's go. The guy over there is Manuel. Next to him is… Hey, leave him alone!!!"

Andi hit hard on the corridor as one of the bullies kicked him off the legs. It really hurt, and Andi tried hard to avoid tears. When he looked up, he saw Aaron, with an angry look on his face, rushing at the other boy, whose friends stood up to help their leader. Manuel helped Andi up, and when Andi tried to help Aaron, Manuel also held him back.

"Careful, we don't want you hurt, and they are only four, so Aaron won't be in trouble, he's the Little Woods Freestyle fighting teen champion."

And indeed, two punches and one kick later, the last boy backed out and helped the others up.

"Stop that fight at once or you will be sent home at once!" shouted a male voice from the speaker.

"Next to him is my baby brother Brian," Aaron continues as if nothing happened at all. Andi giggled, as the 'baby brother' was one and a half head taller than Aaron.

"You come with us, amigo?"

Andi liked Manuel from the first moment. But another thing was in his mind: "Is it right that I just have to start another fight to be sent home? Is it that easy to avoid the camp?"

"Come on amigo, I don't know what you're talking about. Why would you want to miss the camp? You don't want to disappoint me that much, do you?"

"Disappoint you?"

"Sure amigo, please stay and come with us?" Manuel put an arm around Andi's shoulder and pulled him into the seat next to him. "You wanna be my friend?"

Andi was surprised by the ease the other boy touched him. None ever touched him before, safe for his dad, the doc and in the last time also Jenny. Andi felt unsure each time he was touched, but he was very proud that Manuel seemed to like him, so he didn't mind.

"I have one more question. Before I left, my only friend told me even if I won't be allowed to go there afterwards, I should do the ISTaZ-training. But what is the ISTaZ? I didn't want to sound silly so I didn't ask."

"The ISTaZ is also called the 'tough zone', a part of the planet where wild animals live and that isn't as boring as the other parts of the camp. If you want an adventure, you go there. You have to be at least 11 though, or you won't be allowed to enter. You want to do the training with me then?"

"Sure. By the way, I'm Andi." He felt great and was sure he just found a real friend, and to be with Manuel, he'd even submit to tickling.

"So now that this is done amigo, why don't you take this console and chose a game to play with me?"

Andi smiled and looked through the games Manuel had. He finally chose a simulation called 'Stellar Empires'. Unlike most other games, It was based on strategy instead of action, and Andi was really good at it. But so was Manuel, and it was a very balanced game. They finally had to stop when they reached Gate Station. While Aaron and Brian stayed in the plane, just like most others, Andi and Manuel seized the opportunity to stretch their legs. They watched the bustling activity of the Airport, all even more people on one space than on Little Woods airport. Just as if it were the most normal thing in the world, Manuel had an arm around Andi's shoulder, who really enjoyed the fact that no one dared to tease him anymore.

"Hi Manuel, who's that little cutie with you?"

Andi blushed again. Why does everyone think I'm cute, he thought. When he turned around, to see who was talking to them, he saw an Asian boy, of Manuel's age, but a bit taller, about Aaron's size. Unlike him, the boy was skinny, but looked very nimble and agile. "Chang?" Manuel let Andi go to greet his old friend. "I already feared you wouldn't come."

"You really thought I'd let you keep all the fun for yourself?"

"Chang, that's mon amigo Andi, the newest member of our team. He's great and we already are really good friends, aren't we?" Manuels arm took it's place on Andi's shoulder. "Andi, this is Chang, the last member of our group. His parents now work at Gate Station, and he recently moved here. Finally we are complete again."

"Hi!" was all Andi could say.

"He's quite shy?"

"Yes, but this will change when we learn to know each other better."

Back at the plane, Chang sat between Aaron and Brian and the three of them started chatting happily.

"I guess you should learn about us," Manuel started as they sat down again. "Chang's mom is a great gate engineer, while his father makes holo teaching disks for Gate Station. He has a younger brother, who's seven now, and an older sister who's 17. Chang is a great athlete and he's also in those old Chinese unarmed fighting styles and swordplay. But you'll see, he'll even miss a shuttle at 100 feet distance of you give him a rifle. As Aaron already told you, he and Brian are twins. But don't forget he's the oldest of them, it's really important for him. They have an older brother, who's 19 now and who was really hard to them. They are living with their mom from their dad's pension who was an elite soldier but died in the riot two years ago. Aaron has been taking fighting lessons since he was six. For the last three years, he has been the Little Woods freestyle champion, and he could easily be US champion but he refused to fight outside his home town. He's also good outdoorsman. Brian on the other hand is more a scientist than a fighter, and he wants to become a doc when he finished school. Myself, I know much about animals and plant life on terrestrial planets. I'd like to become an explorer, but I don't think they'll take me, I'm too small and too weak. On the other hand, only few can shoot as good as me. You know, you are to learn that from me."

Andi smiled. "I'll learn everything as long as you're the teacher."

"Please seat yourself and switch on the protection chamber!" said the voice from the speaker. We are approaching the gate.

Again, Andi felt a well known sensation he didn't know where he experienced it before. On the other hand he was sure it wasn't his first time, as many others looked quite sick after the jump, while it had no effect at all on him, though he didn't take the anti-sickness chewing gum. Manuel looked quite good, too, but Aaron, Brian and Chang looked quite dizzy. "Congratulations, we just passed the Gate" said the voice from the speaker, "If you don't feel well, just tell one of the stewards, they'll take care of you."

"Wanna continue our game amigo?" And so they did. Both were really in the game, and it took Andi much longer to get an advantage than expected, Manuel was a clever boy who seemed to know every move just before he did it. But then Andi was getting better as he calculated more moves in advance. When he was sure he could win, though, Andi decided to loose, making several smaller errors that gave Manuel a little lead.

"You shouldn't do that!" Manuel said with a bad performed angry look. "You are better, so you earned your victory. I'll be really angry if you let me win." Andi grinned evilly. "And I thought you wouldn't notice." He suddenly had an idea. "But you did it as well!" They looked at each other, suddenly starting to laugh. "How did you notice?" Manuel asked.

"Just did" Andi said.

"Please seat yourself and switch on the protection chamber!" said the speaker again. "We are approaching the training dome. If you plan to do the ISTaZ-training, prepare yourself to leave us. You were pleasant passengers. Have fun on Zong."

"Just one last thing," Manuel said. "This is a combined training center of six towns. We are the green team, all of us, even these four bullies, are now allies. We are at war with the blue and the red team, while yellow, violet and orange are neutral, though yellow tends to be mercenaries of orange. So be careful."

>>next chapter–blue>>

7 – Nate's training

Nate sat at the breakfast poking uninterestedly at his synth-eggs. A kid once told him that people used to actually use to eat eggs that came out of a bird's butt. Gross! He opened the dish chute and dumped in the full plate, blushing with shame. His mother always told him, "With sixty Billion people sharing the same recourses it's a crime to waste good food. Just think of those poor children who have to live on subsidy pastes." He thought of those poor kids alright, but his nervous stomach didn't give a rat's ass about them. He just managed to drink down the last of his glass of zip ale when his father walked into the room. "Grab your bag and let's go." His father ordered as he punched in the sequence to open their private transport door. Nate got up from his seat with an audible groan and walked through the transport door where his father waited without looking up, and climbed into the autotraveler. His father got in and started it up. The traveler pulled away from the house and began to ascend smoothly. Nate watched as his house rapidly shrank away, then his zone.

Few words were spoken between Nate and his father during the trip to Dal-Houston. This same time last year Nate lay in bed sick with the Vultra virus, thus losing his chance to go to camp. This year he wasn't so lucky. He was in perfect health and nothing was going to keep him from being sent to Zong.

The two week training period for first timers came first. He knew he would have to endure being cramped in with a crowed of kids there. But on Zong you could get away from them and go out on your own, which is exactly what he planned to do. He hoped the training was good enough for him to survive on his own.

Nate felt the traveler slow and begin to descend. As the clouds broke up he could see his new temporary home, a pentagon shaped facility occupying the top of a massive four-thousand floor building. His stomach filled with butterflies in anticipation. Nate had never been away from home for more than one week at a time and this was the beginning of a summer away. Unreality washed over Nate as the traveler hovered into the building's trans-port and softly landed. Two men wearing gray turtle-neck shirts and black slacks approached the traveler and Nate and his father got out.

One of the men recognizes the senator and snapped to attention. The other quickly followed suit.

"That's all right gentlemen," Mr. Daton said, waiving a dismissing hand. The two men stepped relaxed.

"Which one of you is Mark Stratting?"

The taller of the two men stepped forward. "I am sir," he said, offering his hand.

The senator took the young man's hand and shook it with the practiced professionalism of a long time politician. Mark Stratting, Mr. Daton noticed, was practically a boy himself. 20 years at the most.

"This is my boy Nathaniel."

Nate shook Mark's hand.

"Pleased to meet you," Mark said.

Nate replied politely, "Pleased to meet you too Mr. Stratting. Please call me Nate."

A warm smile filled Mark's face. "That's fine Nate. Welcome to AdventureQuest training. I'll be one of your instructors."

Nate's father spoke again. "I want you to see it that my boy gets the full benefit of his training here. I don't want him hitting Zong with his head up his ass." Mark assured the senator that the boy would be just fine.

Mr. Daton turned to his son, putting on his warmest smile and said, "Have fun, Nate. Or at least try. It'll be worth it. I promise. Nate went to his father and hugged him fiercely. Phony politician or not, this was the only father Nate had and he was going to miss him. Mr. Daton awkwardly hugged his son back for a moment then forced him away. "Go with these men now, Nate. I have to get back." Nate stepped away from his father, wiping tears from his eyes with the palms of his hands, and watched his father get back into the traveler and pull away.

Mark put a gentle hand on Nate's shoulder and said, "Let's get started, Nate. The first day is always the longest."

Nate's first day at the Dal-Houston Training Facility (DHTF) was a lesson in culture shock. Being a senator's son he rarely had to endure the cramped and crowded conditions that most people had to. The population density in most hi-rise housing complexes is… he didn't know, maybe thousands people per acre. Or even millions. Here at the DHTF was just over half that. To most boys these were considered roomy conditions. To Nate, who only shared an acre with six other people this was almost unbearable. Mark got Nate checked in and led him to his new living space, which he would share with fifty-nine other boys. It was an open bay style barracks with sixty beds in three rows of twenty. At the end of each bed was a foot-locker which would hold the few items each boy brought with him.

The bathroom facilities were the worst. They consisted of three adjoining rooms. The first room, situated on the left as you walked in, housed twenty sani-vapes. All of them were lined up against the walls and there were no dividers. Everybody had to watch you go! That was the most difficult thing to get over. It wasn't until his third day at DHTF that Nate was able to have a bowel movement. By that time he felt as though he were carrying a bowling ball inside of him and no longer had any choice. He left his bed at about two o'clock in the morning and everyone seemed to be asleep. He made his way in the dim night-light to the bathroom where he found one other boy. He went back to his bed and waited him out. When he saw the boy's shadow go back to bed he went back to the bathroom. Now he was finally alone. He lowered his pants and sat down, figuring he would do his business quickly and get to bed. Boy was he wrong! After three days of holding it in, his waste had become a hard lump of clay lodged stubbornly in his lower belly. The simple act of making things move had now become an act of sheer will power… and pain. He ended up spending over twenty minutes on the sani-vape leaving him feeling physically drained and his rectum bleeding. After that experience Nate quickly chose to endure shitting in public over shitting in agony.

To the right of the sani-vapes was a room furnished only with benches that were bolted to the walls. This was the changing room. Directly ahead, just past a short hall was the shower room. This room was the largest of the three. A number of concrete pillars protruded from the white tiled floors, each topped with four real water showerheads. They were timed of course, but a luxury just the same. Nate found that he could deal with public showering a lot easier that public shitting, but there was still one problem. He was used to pleasuring himself in the shower every morning. Now he would be showering with other boys, some of whom would no doubt be very attractive. He would have to concentrate very hard to keep something from coming up. An erection in the shower would surely end up branding him as a faggot and would probably result in a beating.

Its amazing how adaptive kids can be. By the second day most of the boys were relaxed and felt at home in their new environment. Small circles of friends were starting to form and certain boys were already standing out as leaders, and some as losers. Nate tried hard to keep anonymous. He attended the classes and training events and gave them his full attention. He was a pretty bright boy and was doing well in his studies. He even helped out some of the slower kids. His old nickname 'String-bean' had made a triumphant comeback but even that was OK. It wasn't used maliciously. Things were going along much smoother than he had imagined before coming here. That all ended on the third day of the second week of training. It ended in the showers.

From his first day in training Nate had taken notice of a boy who bunked three beds down from his own. His name was Tommy and he reminded Nate of Jonathan Bower, a boy who co-stared in an old twentieth century analog sitcom called Who's The Boss. Tommy was a bit small for his eleven years, had dark blonde hair, hazel eyes and a smile that was simply unarming. Nate had never spoken to Tommy but they did occasionally make eye contact. Nate was always the first one to look away.

On the morning of the third day of the second week of training Nate entered the shower room and looked for Ox. Ox was easily the biggest and most intimidating boy in training. He towered over the other boys, even Nate, and must have tipped the scales at least two hundred pounds [90 kg]. Nate guessed that Ox was Samoan. He had kinky dark brown hair and a perpetual scowl on his round face. He was also much hairier than the other boys, most of whom were still looking forward to puberty.

Nate put his towel on the changing room bench and walked into the shower room. Naked boys bustled about the steamy room all around him but Nate took no notice. He found Ox showering alone at one of the stalls and joined him, as he did since day one. Nobody showered with Ox except for Nate. Ox was Nate's 'dead puppy'. Not only was Ox one of the least attractive people Nate had ever seen, the intimidation and fear factor alone kept things hanging in their places. But today this routine would change for the worse.

Apparently Tommy was in a hurry this morning and decided to take advantage of an open showerhead at Ox's stall. Nate saw Tommy approaching the stall and yelled "NO! Not HERE!" in his mind. But Tommy didn't hear him. Nate tried to focus on the monstrosity that was Ox, but to no avail. Nate's eyes drank in glimpse after glimpse of Tommy. My God. He's perfect! Before long something came up. Tommy quickly rinsed off, looked down and saw Nate's current state of arousal. Nate followed those gorgeous hazel eyes down and realized what was happening. Tommy backed away from the shower with a half smile-half smirk on his face and went back to the changing room. Nate looked around, almost in a panic. Nobody seemed to notice his predicament. He turned his body away from the majority of boys and quickly rinsed his hair. Some of the shampoo got into his eyes. He ran water over his face and wiped it away from his eyes with one arm. When his vision returned Ox was staring directly at Nate's stubborn erection, and he looked shocked and angry. Nate turned away and walked quickly toward the changing room, his penis rapidly shrinking as fear overtook him. He could hear heavy footsteps close behind.

"Hey!" Nate cringed at the sound of the thunderous voice coming from behind him as he entered the changing room. All of the other boys turned to watch the drama that was about to unfold. Nate saw Tommy looking at him with nervous, apologetic eyes. This time it was Tommy's turn to look away first. Nate picked up his towel and wrapped it around his skinny torso, then turned to face his worst nightmare. Ox's naked frame towered over Nate like a bull ready to devour the matador who was foolish enough to drop his sword and cape.

"Little faggot!" the angry beast bellowed. Nate's heart leaped into his throat and his balls constricted almost painfully. "You got a bone for me! That's why you're always in my stall, isn't it?" Ox demanded. Nate could only shake his head frantically as he backed away from Ox. "I'm gonna kill you, faggot!" Ox raged as he charged the badly frightened boy. Nate managed to dodge Ox's charge at the last moment. Ox tried to turn on Nate in mid charge and slipped on the wet floor, landing on his massive ass with a comical thud. A single giggle rang out in the stunned silence. Ox turned his fiery gaze on the small owner of the giggle who was grinning madly. That grin disappeared and was replaced with mortal terror as the little boy realized that the giant man-boy was marking him for future revenge. Ox got up slowly and turned his attention back to Nate. "I'm gonna kill you twice you fuckin' fag." He said softly as he closed in on Nate. Nate was resigned to accept this nightmarish punishment when Mark Stratting rushed in, followed by three other instructors, large ones. Ox looked to the four men then back to Nate. "I'll get you later" that look said. "You can count on it." The situation was defused without any physical harm being done. But the mental and social harm for Nate was just as bad as the narrowly escaped beating.

Nate managed to finish training while avoiding Ox. The last four days were lonely for him, as nobody would come near him after the shower scene, but he was used to being alone anyway. He finally looked forward to going to Zong. There he would be free of Ox and the multitude of other cruel kids. Things there would be OK. He would be able to survive alone.

Nate tried to imagine what it was going to be like on Zong. He closed his eyes and tried to relax as the protective dome surrounded him, making his journey real. Ready or not, I'm on my way.

>>next chapter–purple>>

8 – Ben's flight and some new friends

"Hey, guys, look! It's Saturn!

"Where?"

"Here, on the right! Look at that! Wow, what a cool place!"

"Wow! Do you think there is any life down there that humans may not know about?

"Of course not, dummy! It was explored like a hundred years ago! There can't be life on it, its a gas giant!"

"So what, there could be life on one of the bigger asteroids!"

"Cannot!"

"Can to! Just ask my dad!"

Ben smiled as he listened to the fight of two boys and a girl that were sitting in the seats behind him. If only I had your problems, he thought.

But Saturn was beautiful. Last time they didn't pass so close to it, and Ben was fascinated to see the most beautiful planet in our galaxy so close. It was huge! Then, suddenly, the little ding sounded and on his personal monitor lit up a string: "Please return to your seats and turn on the protection chambers, we are entering the asteroid belt. Please remain seated until we are clear."

Ben flicked the button and found himself in a world of blue again. Saturn in the window was looking mystical and dark.

Once, on their NEBIM (Neuro-Block Integrated Machine, the full-profile computer his mom uses) Ben built a world he called 'Saturn'. It was all red-black deserts and hills, wrapped in orange-green fogs. It was fun to ride around that world in a SpaceJeep simulator, but… Ben thought about this issue lots of times. Nowadays the kids, that grow up without the caressing and love of nature's soft world, are not drawn by mystical planets with unexplored surfaces. Ben, for example, preferred a simple grassy field with some trees (with real grass and trees!) than any strange far planet with glowing sand or something. Those space surfaces are a lot more frequent to them now then some green nature. That's why he didn't dream of colonizing new planets, of living in a red-sun desert… He just dreamed of planet Zong, with its green jungles and deep grass… Ben could just lay in that grass for hours, just feeling it, smelling it… Because that's human nature. You cannot be one with some Martian desert sand, its not YOURS, its some other planet's. And only on Zong Ben could fully become at one with nature.

The spacecraft jumped a little – probably over some asteroid that was in the way. Ben looked around him through the force field. As could be expected, half of the kids were still standing near their seats and chatting. Another jump hit, it was unexpected and pretty sharp. Aha, now they started to run and get into their seats! Ben even laughed a little. Say what you may, but at times it was still fun to be so punctual.

In a few minutes they cleared the asteroid belt and the spacecraft was beginning to increase speed again. Saturn was pretty rapidly left behind and in ten minutes it disappeared completely.

The flight was about a day long, basically. It was about five hours to get to the edge of our solar system, to the warp-jump gate. Then, after the jump, it took the rest of the time to get to Zong, since the Gyrax system was bigger than our solar system. Zong, though, was smaller than earth. About three times smaller. And about half of it was colonized to use for the AdventureQuest camp… The government was spreading plans to expand the camp so more kids can go there every year but for now – nothing moved. Whatever, Ben was pretty happy with the state of the things now: he was on his way!

Ben switched off the Auto-Protection chamber, cause the message that allowed him to was already on the monitor for like fifteen minutes. The warmer air surrounded him again as the conditioned fresh air disintegrated. There was a smell of snacks, slightly sweaty clothes and warmth – the smell of kids in a large group. Ben looked around again. Everybody was minding their own business, some with friends, some alone. So Ben started his too: he took out a book and started to read. He always preferred to read the book first before watching the enclosed film – it was more fun that way. Ben was a fast reader, and every now and then there was a short beep when he pressed the 'Next Page' button. Suddenly, he heard above him:

"Hey, listen…"

He looked up. It was a girl, about his age, that was leaning from her seat in front of him. He raised his eyebrows in sign of paying attention to her words.

"Can you maybe turn off the sound on that thing? I'm sorry, I just wanted to sleep a little…" and she smiled in a friendly way.

"Sure," Ben smiled back and pressed the 'Sound' button until the 'SOUND ON' indicator disappeared.

The girl smiled again and turned around, sitting back in her chair and disappearing from Ben's eyes. She seems nice, thought Ben and concentrated back on his book.

After a while of quiet reading Ben was disturbed again. That same girl that sat in front of him leaned over the seat and touched his shoulder. Ben raised his eyes from the book to look at her with a question. The girl said:

"Whatch'ya reading?"

"Adventures of Glen on planet Foggystar…" replied Ben after a short hesitation. He would expect himself to get annoyed from a person he doesn't know starting to disturb him for no apparent reason, but this time he didn't. It was a long ride and Ben was starting to get bored without company. He continued after a short moment of silence: "Have you read it?"

"Yeah, great book. The film is not too good though. But they did film it on the actual planet so it has a kind of… Authentic feel to it."

Ben was a little surprised about what a witty and articulate conversation this girl was turning out to be. He said:

"I haven't seen the film yet."

"Well, then, just press the 'Film' button and let's see it!"

"Nah, I want to finish the book first."

"Oh, you haven't finished it yet?"

"No…"

"What spot are you at?"

"Ummm… When he meets Garry, the Acromadian."

"Oh, that's almost the end! Do you know the ending?"

"No…"

"Good! Keep on reading. Then, we'll see the movie and see what you think."

"Okay…"

Again, Ben turned to the book. True, the girl was right: he only had a few pages left and he finished them in no time. And a few minutes after that the girl, that by the way said her name was Wendy, climbed into Ben's seat. She dragged with her who she said was her little brother, a little cute blonde boy, nine years old. He was hyperactive (just like Kyle!) and very energetic. He couldn't sit a moment still. Ben and Wendy had a lot of laughs looking at all the crazy things he did. Then they wanted to watch the movie so Wendy threw her little brother back to his seat, to play video games. Ben was a little disappointed: he already started to like the little cute fellow. He reminded him so much of Kyle whom he was going to meet so soon…

The movie was nice, but as Wendy said – not too bright. It was fun to watch it though. Just before the ending Wendy's little brother climbed back to them. He watched the end of the movie with them and then begged Ben to go play video games with him. Ben smiled and agreed. Again, just like that, he found out the boy's name from Wendy. When the boy hit Ben on the arm for beating him up (in the fight video game) Wendy quietly said:

"Joel… Stop it."

Okay, so – it's Wendy and Joel. They still didn't know his name though, and it wasn't likely in a kid bunch to get aquatinted especially. But when they finished the game that Joel won in the end he (Joel) said:

"Thanks for playing with me… Hey, what's your name?" Joel, just like that, without stupid ceremonies, just asked and that's it.

"Umm… Ben," said Ben and smiled.

The boy smiled back.

Just like that, spending time and having fun together they got to the gate. The spacecraft stopped at the space station that was located near the gate and was called gatekeeper. The kids got out of the spacecraft for a few minutes to stretch their legs. Ben bought a cup of coke in the station's buffet. The bartender robot looked nice so Ben talked to him a little bit. He loved talking to these stupid machines. They always try to listen and analyze what you're saying but in the end always come up with the same advice: everything will be better tomorrow, blah blah blah.

After about fifteen minutes there was a call back to the plane. Ben went back inside. Wendy and Joel never left the spacecraft – Wendy said that she's afraid Joel would run off somewhere and she wouldn't find him quickly enough. Well, that sounded like something Joel could easily do. Ben said "hi" and was invited to another mach by Joel. He couldn't take the challenge though cause they had to sit in their individual seats for the jump.

As soon as all the kids were seated the Auto-Protection chambers activated automatically – but not the same as before: this time they were red. That meant that the force field is set to balance the pressure inside during the warp jump. The captain advised everyone to just stay calm and not be nervous, wished everyone an easy warp jump and concluded with saying: see you in the Gyrax system. Ben breathed deep and threw into his mouth the "Anti-Sickness" gum that jumped out of the handle on his seat. The spacecraft was preparing to enter the warp gate, it was shaking lightly. Ben looked around. It was hard to see through the thick red force field. All he saw was similar red bubbles around the other seats. Ben didn't like warp jumps, it always made him a little sick. But whatever, he got through it four times already – he'll get through it the fifth time too.

The ship entered the gate. Strong noise fell on Ben from all sides. Then all he could see in his eyes was a bright while light that just kept getting brighter and brighter… Ben felt dizzy. He fell on the side of the force field and in those moments he thought about what he learned in school about warp jumps: how the spacecraft goes through a sub-space channel to link two places as one. If someone could see the sub-space channel right now he would see their spacecraft stretched throughout the billions and billions of space-miles between the earth's solar system and Gyrax. Ben felt like someone was squeezing him tighter and tighter until he couldn't breathe… And finally the squeeze bubble popped, all at once, and it was like a fresh air flow right back into his body. The ship had completed the crossing and was now on the other side of the gate, in the Gyrax system. Slowly, Ben regained his eyesight. He still felt a little woozy and very tired. A light buzz made him look down and focus his eyes. From the handle appeared a glass of water and as soon as he found the strength to lift his arm Ben lifted the glass and drank all the water. After he returned the glass to the handle it went under with that same buzz. Then the handle opening closed.

After a few minutes the red force-fields disappeared. All the kids were starting to get out of the warp-jump experience, some looked more whipped than others. Above the seat that was in front of Ben appeared a little blonde head followed by a smiling face. It was Joel. He looked fresh and seemed like the warp jump had no effect on him whatsoever. Figures, Ben thought with a smile.

"Hey!" said Joel happily.

Ben grunted as a reply and smiled again. Then he coughed to clear his throat and said:

"Hi. How was the jump?"

"What jump?" asked the boy.

"That's what I thought…" said Ben and laughed. Ouch, it still felt a little queezy in his stomach. Grunted again.

Okay. That is it. He is on his final way to Zong. And again, he was so excited all he could think was: "Here I come, guys, HERE I COME!"

>>next chapter–green>>

10 – The airport of the coolest planet in the universe, or why shouldn't you mess with robots

The Zong airport was already pretty crowded. When Ben stepped out of the gate he looked around to see kids, happily shouting, running around – all in a hurry to some place. Suddenly he got a pretty rough push from behind, and an angry young voice that Ben grew to like so much during the flight said those sweet, soft words that only Joel could formulate:

"Dammit, would you move already? Are you asleep or something?

Ben got a strong urge to turn around and spank that kid. But, as always, he let his rational side take over. But you can only be so much rational concerning other kids. So Ben, without turning around, said automatically:

"Shut up, I'll kill ya.

Joel giggled and pushed Ben again. Finally Ben turned around and barked:

"Quit it!

Immediately a maintenance robot hung over them, asking with a calm synthesized male voice:

"Is there a problem children? Do you need any help? Just use my easy to use touch screen for directions. Welcome to Zong. I'm your mechanic helper, the AQR-354. If you need to register at your new arrival place, just follow the green arrows…

Once that dumb machine starts blabbing it would never stop. Just to shut it up Ben rapidly sticked his finger somewhere on the touch screen, without even looking. The robot stopped his explanations, thought for a moment and handed Ben a cup of water that appeared from somewhere in his stomach. Both Ben and Joel burst laughing. Then Ben realized that they are holding the line back too long. Ben stepped out of the way, followed by Joel. They waited a moment for Wendy that got a little delayed in getting off the plane. The whole time the stupid Robot was still standing next to Ben holding that sodding cup of water. When Wendy appeared they started walking, following the green arrows. Ben already knew this operation by hard, so Wendy and Joel – being 'first timers' just followed him. Suddenly Ben realized that that moronic robot was still following them with that idiotic cup of water! Ben stopped, now really upset. Wendy started to giggle and said to Ben that he better take the water if he doesn't want that thing on their tail all day. Ben took the glass of water from the robot's tray and that asshole started to blab again immediately:

"…that you see on the walls. Those arrows will lead you to the registration center. At the registration center you can address an available registration computer. This computer will guide you…

Blah blah blah, blah blah blah. Ben really didn't know what to do. This was one persistent Robot. Wendy was leaning on the wall from laughter. And of course, who came to the rescue was Joel. He calmly walked to the center of the corridor and just as calmly walked up to a slim tall boy that was standing there from the back, looking around. Then he energetically kicked the older boy's leg with his own short little foot. The boy screamed "Ow!!!" in surprise and pain and of course, right away, the robot – reacting to the loud sound – stopped his speech to Ben and wheeled itself to the slim boy that still didn't have enough time to react to any of this, and showered him with the usual nonsense:

"Is there a problem? Do you need any help? Just use my easy to use touch screen for directions. Welcome to Zong. I'm your mechanic helper, the AQR-354…"

Joel just as calmly ran back to the shocked Ben and the amused Wendy and all three kids happily ran away leaving the poor slim kid, totally blown off and confused, to face that tacky robot.

In registration, Ben quickly finished his business by inserting his personal AQID (AdventureQuestID) card and getting his eye scanned for entrance clearance scanners recognition. Then he guided both Joel and Wendy through the same process.

It was almost 1 PM. For Ben, it was time to go meet Sammy: his spacecraft should be arriving now. As much as he was anxious to meet his best friend he couldn't just leave Wendy and Joel alone, after all – they have been together with him the whole flight and Ben promised he'd show them around. Ben wasn't sure what to do. Finally, he worked up the courage and asked:

"Umm… Guys… Listen, I gotta go meet a… Friend of mine. He's spacecraft is arriving now and…"

"What, are you gonna leave us? – exclaimed Joel, sounding quite hurt and disappointed. Encouraged by this Ben continued:

"Of course not, silly! I just wondered… If you would like to come with me, or just set a place and time when we would meet later. You know…"

Wendy shrugged and looked at her brother. Joel looked at Ben and made a serious face, a little stubborn and a little curious, asking:

"Is your friend as nice as you are?"

"A hundred times better!" smiled Ben widely and now fully confident again started walking signaling the siblings to follow him.

On the way back the kids had lots of laughs conning the robots that were hanging around the passways of the airport. They even met that pesky robot that got stuck to them on the way to the reg center. It was now convincingly explaining something to some poor little kid that had a totally lost expression on his face. Joel licked his red lips and said:

"I wonder what ever happened to that tall kid I kicked."

Everybody laughed again remembering the incident.

In one PM sharp they were near gate 13. On the 'arrivals' list was written with large green letters:

Arr.: 365453-DAX-AQF

From: PhilaYork

Arrival time: Arrived.

Ben got a bit concerned: the flight seemed to have arrived earlier. Ben looked around to see Sammy. At first glance he didn't see him. He walked around the waiting room again. No Sammy. Then Ben spotted a kid standing near the window outside, with his back to Ben. Could it be? With his gut, with a totally instinctive feeling, he felt that this is Sammy. By the way the boy stood, with his shoulders a bit forward, like he is shy of the whole world and constantly afraid of something that might hit him. But visual aids were not confirming this. Sammy had always been a short boy, looking small for his age. He had short dark-brown hair and always wore funny suspenders to hold his shorts. This boy, however, was at least as tall as Ben, had long hair – light brown, and was wearing jeans with no suspenders whatsoever. Still, something pushed Ben and he touched the boy on his shoulder. The hair swiffed through the air as the boy turned around and Ben saw a painfully familiar face looking at him, it's expression changing from sad and a little lost to happy. It was Sammy.

Sammy smiled widely, sparking with his deep brown eyes. Ben smiled too. Ben said "Hi" and smiled wider. Then, suddenly, Sammy did something Ben didn't expect: he hugged Ben. Warmly. After the first few moments of confusion Ben hugged Sammy back. Then they separated and looked at each other.

Ben noted that Sammy had grown drastically – so much that Ben didn't recognize him at first. Last year he was ten and short for his age, he looked like an eight year-old. And this winter it seemed like Sammy had a big growth spurt, catching up with Ben and the rest of the kids. He was slim, tall and beautiful. His face was promising to become a mega-movie-star's image. All together, Sammy was looking different. He was still shy and quiet – that you could see right away, but he was… Different. He wasn't that tiny kid anymore, that was always looked upon from above, he was a young man now.

While the two boys were eyeing each other there was a polite cough to the right of them. It was Joel reminding Ben of his and Wendy's existence. Ben stepped back and said:

"Sammy, this is Wendy and Joel. I met them during the flight, they're first timers. Wendy, Joel, this is my best friend Sammy."

Sammy looked openly but a little shyly into the kid's eyes and shook both their hands. Then he turned back to Ben, finally speaking. He said in a concerned tone:

"Did you get registered already?"

"Yep, sure did. We don't mind going again for you, do we?" replied Ben looking at Wendy and Joel during the last two words of his phrase.

"Nope, not at all," replied Wendy and Joel immediately jumped forward, laughing as he thought of the fun he'd have with the robots on the way there.

"…And then it was like… Boom!!! And we were on the other side. It was so cool! I was looking at other kids through the protection field all the time, most of them got stuck to the chamber with their cheeks!" ended Joel his excited tale to Sammy about the warp jump, forgetting that Sammy had one just like it only a few minutes after they did. Then he concluded: "Wussies. That jump is no big deal." Then he slyly looked at Ben, nodding at him: "This one came out like a warm ice-cream."

"Did not!" exclaimed Ben, a little hurt. "I was great compared to the other kids!"

"Yeah, right! You looked like you just went a round in a vacuum washing machine!"

Sammy smiled listening to Joel. Wendy was laughing, looking down at her brother like any big sister would. Ben felt a little annoyed but finally, he too couldn't hold his smile.

They were sitting in a transport room, waiting for they're turn to be transported. All were assigned to the same zone. They watched as one of the groups of kids in front of them stepped into the transporter chamber that immediately went underground. Now, it was about two minutes since it disappeared and the four youngsters were happily chatting. The main chatter was, as is obvious, Joel. Just when Ben gave in to Joel's remarks and smiled the transporter appeared from bellow again. Ben watched as the last group of kids before them was entering the chamber, using their AQID cards. Then the chamber slid underground again. Joel started to talk about something again, but Ben didn't listen this time: he was thinking about the forthcoming transport. Man, why did everything concerning transportation on this planet had to use sub-space? Why there are no regular air-cabs or busses, like there are on earth? It's clear why. First of all, there are no adults to supervise or drive them. Second, it adds pollution. Third, it will really screw up the natural look of the planet if there are cars flying in it's clear sky. But still, damn it! Ben hated those sub-space transitions. Of course it wasn't as bad as a major-spacecraft warp gate jump, but still – it was like a mini-version of it. Every time Ben even stepped in one of those chambers right away he started to feel queezy in his tummy. Well, not everything was like that… Some areas that were close to the edge of the continent had regular air shuttles, but their zone was too far from the coast and was transported by underground sub-space transports. Ben thought of the lucky kids that could just sleep for 40 minutes in a calm air shuttle… But he wouldn't train his beloved zone for the world. It was already like a second home, that cave, that lake…

Ben's thoughts were rudely disrupted when Joel hit him with his elbow.

"Are you asleep, or something? I asked, are we next?"

"Hugh? Oh, yeah. I think so. Get your cards ready."

Everyone dug into their belongings to fish out the AQID cards. Ben found it first, Sammy found it second. They both straightened out before Wendy and Joel did, so Ben got a chance to look at Sammy again. Wow, did he grow! Sammy smiled and whispered to Ben about Joel:

"Listen, this kid is a smaller version of Kyle!"

"I know! Ain't it cool?" replied Ben with a big grin.

The third to surface from her bag was Wendy. She put her card in between her teeth to free both hands, then closed her backpack and dropped it in between her legs. All the time Ben noticed what he had noticed before, but was too early to conclude about: Wendy was constantly throwing short meaningful glances at Sammy. She liked him! Ben could clearly see that Wendy was interested in his friend! Ben smiled. The only one that seemed completely unaware of this was Sammy himself, still as naive as ever. And when Wendy politely asked him to help her with the backpack zipper (even though Ben was sitting closer to her) he helped without suspecting a thing or getting any hints. Ben smiled wider: yep, the same old Sammy. And thrilling feeling went through his spine again: he's back on Zong again! And soon, so soon…

The chamber returned just then, popping from underneath the floor and getting everyone's attention. Ben got up, followed by Sammy and Wendy. As for Joel, he was still with his head stuck in his backpack, looking for his card. Ben looked at Wendy with a question. Wendy kicked Joel lightly to hurry him up on which he responded with a muffled "Ouch!" Wendy added a literal meaning for her kick:

"Hurry up, the transport is here."

"Just a sec…" replied Joel, panicking through his mess. Finally, he retrieved the card and jumped up: "Okay, I'm ready to go."

Ben went first and stuck his card into the checker. It disappeared inside and the door to the chamber opened. The door closed behind him and he received his card on the other end. Sammy followed, sticking his card and entering too. In less than a minute all kids were inside the transport chamber. Each took a seat. They occupied four of the ten total seats in the transport. It looked like nobody else was going to their zone at this time. Cool, more space for us, thought Ben.

After they were all buckled in the monitor switched on and started showing various info about the AdventureQuest camp. Thirty seconds later the protection chambers were already surrounding the kids. And the last thing Ben heard before they entered the sub-space channel was Joel screaming "Huraaaaay!!!"

>>next chapter–green>>

11 – The world stinks, or another reason not to mess with Robots

Nate endured the gate crossing with just a little discomfort. He used the air sickness gum and was quietly amused by the macho boys who refused it, many of whom lost their cookies all over themselves. Nate kept to himself through the trip, taking a seat in the rear. Once a boy of about twelve approached him and Nate told him that he felt like he was going to vomit and the boy left him alone.

Nate scanned the fellow occupants on his flight hoping not to see Ox… and hoping to see Tommy. He saw neither. His close call with Ox had spread through his training section and word was out that if Ox found Nate on Zong, Nate would be returning to Earth in a body bag. Nate doubted that Ox would actually kill him but he was in no hurry to find out what he would do. He intended to keep as far from Ox as Zong would allow.

As for Tommy, Nate had mixed emotions. He was too embarrassed to face Tommy through the remainder of his training, but he wished he could get the chance to know him. Tommy knew that Nate didn't have a bone for Ox, in fact, by the look on Tommy's face when it happened Tommy knew it was for him. But Tommy never said anything about it, at least not that Nate had heard.

For now Nate simply looked forward to having some time to himself on Zong. It had been better than two weeks since he had any real time to himself. The heckling voices of cruel children were still fresh in his head, crowding his thinking and depressing him. Only some real down time would cure that.

The transport landed softly and the doors opened and boys scattered through them. Nate waited patiently for the transport to empty before exiting himself. He stepped onto the tarmac of Zong's airport on shaky knees. He tried to convince himself that the weak knees were due to the trip over, but he knew deep inside that it was really the excitement and anticipation of finally being here on Zong.

The routine here at the airport seemed fairly obvious. Kids were lining up at terminals to get Ids checked and then were boarding much smaller transports, which would take them to various zones throughout Zong. Nate walked into the main corridor and stopped to look for the terminal with the shortest line. Just as he noticed an almost vacant terminal his left calf suddenly exploded with pain. "Ow!" he shouted involuntarily. A disturbing image of Ox appeared in Nate's tired mind. He turned slowly, fighting off the wave of panic that threatened to take over, only to see a small boy running away. The little turd had kicked him, hard. Before he had time to react a maintenance robot quickly hovered between him and the fleeing kick-boy. "Is there a problem?" the robot droned in a friendly, yet annoying voice. "Do you need any help? Just use my easy to use touch screen for directions."

All at once all of the hurt, confusion and humiliation of the past two weeks crashed down on Nate with brutal force. Nate ran. His breath hitching and tears streaming down his flush cheeks. He stopped at the now empty terminal and quickly jammed his AQID into the slot and held his glossy eyes up to the retinal scanner. The whole time the stupid thoughtless robot chattering right behind him. "Welcome to Zong. I'm your mechanic helper, the AQR-354. Just follow the green arrows…" "Shut UP!" Nate blurted out and again took to his feet, running toward the last transport at the end of the corridor. The final five transports were empty and Nate quickly boarded the last one. He stood, trying to catch his breath and watched the robot turn away and whiz back to the dwindling crowd of boys, looking for another victim to annoy. Nate stumbled to the back of the transport and collapsed, weeping, into the seat. "When will it end?" His tortured mind cried out.

Nate buried his face in his hands and wept for what seemed like a very long time. At some point he heard the footsteps of another boy boarding the transport, but he didn't look up to see who it was. He heard the door close and sensed the protective shield surround him. He opened his eyes just long enough to see that there was only one other boy with him. The boy had his back to him so he couldn't tell who it was. He could tell that it wasn't Ox and that was good enough for now. It looked like it was going to be only two in his zone, one too many as far as Nate was concerned. But the zones were very large and Nate figured he could ditch the other boy fairly easily.

Nate didn't want to see another human being the whole time he was to be on Zong. He was through dealing with other kids and was glad to be rid of them… but that would soon change.

Loneliness is a subtle and cruel disease. It encircles the heart and applies a gentle yet constant pressure. At first this pressure is barely perceptible, hidden just below the white noise produced by normal everyday activities such as school, work or watching television. Many people inflicted with this disease learn to fill their hours with a variety of activities. This strategy works for a while, but never in the long term. You see, loneliness is a progressive disease. If left untreated, the pressure around the heart will gradually increase, making it more and more difficult for the victim to avoid it's essential reality… and the pain that accompanies it. Loneliness is also an opportunistic disease, waiting patiently for its victim's defenses to be disarmed. When the opportunity arises, the heart is squeezed painfully, sometimes even crushed.

Nate was afflicted with loneliness and had been for most of his young life. At the age of eleven his heart was still strong enough to avoid being crushed, but it had been squeezed painfully on many occasions. This latest squeeze was especially painful because he had nowhere to turn to escape it. All of the things Nate enjoyed doing to fill his time were back at his home on Earth, and Zong looked like a vast, lonely existence.

There are only two defenses that loneliness cannot penetrate, sleep and death. Nate was too young and his heart was too strong to consider the latter defense, so his natural instincts took over provided him with the first. Sitting alone in the back seat of the transport, Nate cried himself to sleep.

While there are several defenses to help one live with loneliness, there is only one real cure, true and loving companionship. Nate had had a small number of short-lived friendships throughout his life, but nothing that lasted long enough to become meaningful. Nate's parents were never very close to him. They were devoted completely to the advancement of his father's political career, leaving Nate to be cared for by high-priced domestic robots. Subconsciously, he yearned for the affection and closeness of another human being, one who could penetrate the loneliness and free his heart from the painful pressure.

It appeared that there would be no relief on Zong. Nate had resigned to the fact that AdventureQuest would indeed only make matters worse long before he entered training. All of his defenses would be stripped from him and he would be forced to face the reality of his loneliness.

All that changes when Nate was awakened by the slight thump of the transport landing in his zone, and discovered that the seat next to him was no longer empty. It was now occupied by Tommy.

>>next chapter–purple>>

12 – Andi's training begins. The world ain't so bad after all!

Andi looked through the shimmering blue protection field and watched the boy who had been teasing him since they first met. He couldn't see much of him, but he wasn't sure whether they really could be allies. He wouldn't break the rules but maybe he could avoid seeing him at all. When he was allowed to, he turned of the protection field and grabbed his bag. Soon after, the expected arm was put around his shoulder and Manuel led him out of the plane. Andi couldn't believe what he saw. While there were several buildings near the airport, behind them, in every direction, everything was green. He felt a strange sensation and an urge to check it out, but he decided to wait for Manuel to take the lead.

"You like what you see amigo?" Manuel pointed at a part of the forest that was just behind some narrow buildings to the right. "The training area is much like the pressure domes in Huston, only bigger and the full training will be here. Let's take our luggage to our rooms and explore the forest a bit. We won't have any appointments till lunch."

"Lunch? We started in the morning, it's nearly time for supper."

"Almost right. We started at Earthtime, but now its 10:45 Zongtime."

Andi looked around in awe, just like the little boy he was. "It's great. Will we camp outdoors?"

"I don't think so. You are a firsttimer, most probably they won't allow. But of course we can ask." They arrived at one of the smaller buildings. Manuel opened the door, and they were approached by a man in his thirties, obviously an officer of some kind as he was earing a uniform with lots of badges. He looked quite busy but he took the time to greet the two boys. "Hello, … wait, don't help… Manuel, right? Who's that friend of yours?"

Manuel looked really proud when the man remembered his name. "This is Andi, he's a firsttimer, but he wants to do the training to learn as much as possible. Andi, that's Lieutenant Morris, our chief trainer." When the man frowned, Manuel took a closer look at the badges. "Oh, sorry, captain Morris I see. Congratulations sir!"

"Andrew Parker, sir!" Andi introduces himself. "I'm glad I can be here."

The man took a small device from his pocket. "Andrew Parker, Little Woods" the captain spoke into his device. Then he looked into a small monitor that was in the upper part of it, and finally he turned to Andi and smiled. "I'm glad to meet you, 23LW-BD132-1554-B Andrew Parker. I don't think I ever heard of such a good job before. And you seem to choose your friends well." The captain turned to face Manuel. "What exactly is his position in your team?"

"He'll do training with us, and I think he will do the part I did last year. Aaron and me will take Chris' part. He won't be able to join us at Zong, but this way we still have all necessary skills."

"And who will be your leader?"

"Aaron I think, but we didn't elect a leader yet. If you don't mind, we'd like to go now, I want to lead him around a bit."

"Go to Sub1-8, there is a room for six boys that is still free."

"Sub1, are you sure? Thanks captain, sir"

Andi looked somehow confused, but he didn't want to sound silly, so he waited with his question till the man was out of view. They took a pair of stair leading down and found themselves in a small corridor, which seemed to lack any modern technology. "What's so special with Sub1?" Andi asked while Manuel tried to open the door of room 8 but found it locked.

"Sub1 is only for people whom lieutenant… no captain Morris wants to pay special attention."

Manuel took some small tools and tried to open the doors security panel but was knocked back by an electrical shock. Andi dropped his bag when he looked at Manuel with worry.

"No amigo, I'm ok. But if we can't get into the room by ourselves, we will loose the captain's attention." There still was pain in Manuel's face, but Andi believed him in that he wasn't badly hurt.

"Ok, I'll try then."

"No, better don't. I don't want you being hurt, and you've seen that alarm amigo. I'll think of something."

"I don't think you are in a shape to try again, so it's my turn. Just keep your finger crossed for me." Andi looked at the security panel, and found a slot to plug in. Jenny's training paid off, as he easily bypassed all three security levels and opened the door.

"I don't believe what I have just seen. How did you do that?"

Andi was happy that he could impress Manuel that much, but he couldn't tell him the truth yet. "You know, my dad is a security specialist, and I learned much of computers even at my age." Andi chose one of the lower benches, and as he expected, Manuel took the one above him. The room was small, three double beds, one closet and a small table with three chairs. It looked much like a bedroom in a poor families' apartment, though it was totally clean, no sign of dust. There was a backdoor leading to group shower, toilets, gym and also a sauna.

"By the way, what did the captain mean with that exceptional Job you did?"

"Well, I've been bored quite a lot during this year at school, so I hacked into the compudesk and did the lessons for two years above mine. I didn't expect they'd allow me to do the final tests, but they did, and I passed all three of them. That is I won't have to attend lessons for two years if I don't want to. Of course, I can also try to learn whatever I can."

"Looks like I could use some private science lessons, will you teach me when we're back in Little Woods?"

"Me? Sure. But I don't think I'll be a good teacher." Andi took Jenny's knife from his bag.

"Let's go. By the way, if he doesn't change the combination, it is 11010001LW23."

He waited for Manuel to put an arm around his shoulder and they left the room. Manuel led him into the forest, and Andi enjoys the smell of live. They were venturing deeper into the woods, only stopping for Andi to touch and inspect a tree or some other plant he'd never seen before. Finally they came to a clearing next to a small river.

"I think here we'll build our camp. Do you know how to swim?" Manuel took his arm off Andi's shoulder and started stripping. Andi hesitated, and stared at Manuel's body, while the other boy undressed. When he was finished, Manuel turned around and caught Andi staring, but he just smiled and jumped into the water. Andi didn't want to chicken out, so he also stripped and carefully joined his new friend.

"No, I don't, but I'm sure you'll teach me."

"Sure amigo, but don't expect to learn this too fast. You'll need lots of practice."

The next hour, they were splashing in the water, and Andi was trying to copy Manuel's movements. It was more difficult than he expected, but Andi enjoyed the wetness of the river, water was too scarce in the part of Little Woods he was living in, so he only could use dry showers. Manuel touched him a lot, but only to correct his movements. While he was practicing however, Andi caught Manuel scanning his body, and he blushed as safe for his dad, no one has ever seen him naked before. But he also caught himself throwing looks at Manuel, who had a well defined body, not as muscular as Aaron but definitely well trained. He had a nice overall tan, not even a white line. Compared to his own body, Manuel was much bigger but still hairless, which Andi knew was unusual for a boy of Manuel's age. While training and checking the other out, time passed much too fast, and finally they had to go for lunch.

Back at the camp, they found a group of kids sitting around a big campfire. Aaron, Brian and Chang were among them, Andi and Manuel sat down next to their friends. The kids were grouped in four squads, and safe for the five of them, there was the bully with his three friends, another group of six boys, most probably newcomers to the ISTaZ as they were about 11 years old, and one group of five older girls. The captain and one other soldier who was quite young was standing on a platform on one side of the fire.

"Kids," the captain started, "this year we have seven newcomers in our team so I start from the beginning. I'm Captain Morris and I'm in charge of the Little Woods training center. This is Sergeant Powell, your officer. First of all, each of your squads needs a leader. Elect one now. Then get your lunch and afterwards your first lesson will be camp-building and defenses. You'll find me at Sub1-1 if necessary if I'm not with one of the Little Woods teams." Then he left.

"Ok, let's vote." Aaron started. "The rules are simple: you type your vote into the computer. No one is allowed to vote for himself. Any questions?" As no one answered, Aaron made his vote and passed the computer to Chang, who was sitting next to him.

"Whom will you vote for?" Andi whispered into Manuel's ear.

"Aaron of course," Manuel whispered back. "He's the only one who can do the job." Andi nodded, and when the computer was passed to him, he also voted for Aaron. He then gave the computer to Manuel, who did his vote, and as he was last, announced the result.

"Aaron four votes, Andi one. So Aaron will be our squad leader."

Andi looked around in surprise. According to the rules, Aaron must have voted for him. Brian cast an accusing look at Aaron, and Andi realized that he was angry on both of them as he had expected to get that vote. He didn't know what to do, but he decided he would do his best to be Brian's friend as well.

Chang stood up and announced: "Squad Powell-1, leader is 23LW12-AF123-0010-D Aaron Clint."

"Squad Powell-2, leader is 23LW15-AC002-0002-C Robert McMight" So Robert was the name of the bully, and according to the small numbers of both, house and level, his dad must really be important in Little Woods. Andi never heard the name McMight before, though.

"Squad Powell-3, leader is 23LW12-AF123-3234-C Jennifer Parker" If he remembered right, this was Aaron's block. But with more than 3000 levels between them, it was unlikely that the two knew each other.

"… Squad Powell-4, leader is 23LW51-BA213-1223-F Gregory Custer" After a long silence, the boys finally voted, just when Sergeant Powell was about to explode. "Ok then." He forced himself to calm down. "You are responsible for your squad members' actions. Every evening after the second schedule, you will give me a report of your squad's day. Now to the training schedule. Each day is divided in four parts. First part is lessons. Second part is private training. Third part is free time, fourth part is bedtime. Between any of the parts you can get yourself something to eat. Now each squad gets uniforms and equipment."

While he was speaking to the boys, a transport had arrived. Aaron and Chang carried a large box towards the others. First they handed everyone a uniform, green, with strange contacts at various parts of the body. Then everyone got a las-rifle but Andi was far too afraid to hurt anyone to touch it. "Some of you may ask themselves why we hand you weapons before training you how to use them. The rifles have been slowed down, you won't be able to hurt anyone or anything with them save for the contacts on your uniforms and in the training hall. You'll get real rifles when you enter the ISTaZ, but only if you pass the shooting-test." Next was a small toolkit that could be attached to the uniform's belt. Finally a medset, only one for the squad, which Aaron gave to Brian. "Now get yourself some potatoes and fry them in the campfire, then go to your rooms and put on the uniforms, I'll see you back here in 52 minutes."

The fried potatoes were much better than everything those food replicators could produce. Manuel showed him how long he was supposed to put them into the fire, and much to his own surprise, Andi didn't miss his computer yet. However for a boy of his age, there were too few potatoes to eat one's fill. After eating, they returned to their room. Andi and Manuel took the lead, and found the others' bags in front of the door. "So any idea how we will open the door?" Aaron asked. "If we can't find a way to enter, we'll lose the captain's attention."

"Why not simply enter the code?" Andi opened the door and heard Manuel laugh out loud. Aaron looked quite confused, but when he saw the two bags in the room, he asked "You have been in before? I couldn't open the door, nor could Brian."

"Nor could I," Manuel said, "and I got badly shocked when I tried, but the little one simply plugged into the security panel and the door opened."

Andi tried hard to look deeply hurt when called like this, but thoroughly failed. When Manuel saw his look, he burst into laughter, and Andi just had to join in. They quickly changed, and returned to the campfire. In the meantime, someone had put sleeping bags with their names sewed in to the place they sat before. They were first, but most probably because their room was closest to the fire. One after another to others arrived as well, still in time. When everyone was there, the sergeant continued. "You'll now learn how to set up a tent, and how to build other shelter in case you don't have tents. You'll also learn how to defend your camp against wild animals and other primitive life forms. Now pick up your sleeping bags and those four tents and follow me." He lead the kids to the clearing Manuel and Andi had been before. Setting up a tent was no problem, one had just to open the valve and the tent would inflate itself. Building the stockade was exhausting, but it also was the biggest work to do. They also built a trench around the camp and the sergeant showed them several possibilities to build a small hut of wood, within an earthhole or on a big tree. When the stockade was finished and the flag was flying high above the camp, everyone was tired and tried to get to bed as soon as possible. Andi however held Manuel back. "We have our sleeping backs, so why don't we stay here? We could freshen up in the river."

"But none would miss the possibility to sleep in Sub1, I don't want to loose the captain's attention."

"Well, if he still knows your name after one year, and I think he's training many boys, you already deeply impressed him."

The chance of seeing Andi's body again finally convinced Manuel. He was so cute, and Manuel knew he would do everything Andi asked him to. "Ok., let's go swimming then."

This time Andi lost most of his shyness. He knew Manuel wouldn't see anything he hasn't already seen before. He was happy he could get rid of his uniform, which wasn't very comfortable. Both boys jumped into the river, and Andi managed not to drown without Manuel's help. The cold water felt great on their exhausted bodies and soon they felt better. Andi even managed to cross the river without any help.

"Great. You are much better than I thought it would be possible. But I don't want you to drown, so should I help you back?"

Andi was too exhausted to deny. "Ok., I'm so tired that I could sleep just where I am." Manuel took Andi on his back and crossed the river with him. The boys then put their sleeping bags in one of the tents, then Manuel left, a few minutes later returned with some flowers. "Just relax" Manuel answered Andi's asking look. He pressed an oily liquid from the flowers onto Andi's back, then started a massage. Andi purred like a cat when Manuel touched his tensed up muscles. He enjoyed himself and soon fell asleep, while Manuel continued the massage for about an hour, before he closed Andi's sleeping bag and got to sleep, too.

>>next chapter–blue>>

13 – The Green Planet

The trip made Ben a little nauseous again. Even though it lasted for only fifteen minutes. But the warp jump was not pleasant – especially because they were underground. When the shuttle slowed down the situation was as follows: Ben and Sammy were both laundered and shaking, as for Joel and Wendy – the expression on their faces was exactly the same as it was before: one of excitement and happiness.

The shuttle slowed to a complete stop and then started to rise. It was coming outside from underground. Finally, the round glass compartment on a small area base was filled with the gray body of a transport. The doors opened and four kids hesitantly walked out. Ben and Sammy were first (they were walking hesitantly because of their profound flight experience) followed by Joel and Wendy (they were first timers, both afraid and anxious to find what Zong really is).

The bright afternoon light shone bright and warmed the entire gentle world it touched. The air was fresh, filled with strong scents of flowers and bird tweet. The trees were green all around them, the emerald-green grass was shining so bright it made the kids cover their eyes at first. At the horizon they were dark powerful cliffs with deep forest covering them almost to the very top. A little to the left was a large shiny lake. There was no one in sight.

All four just stood there, mesmerized. Even though it was his third time, Ben was once again left with his mouth wide open starring at the sky and taking it all in. Sammy was right next to him. As for the newcomers, they were completely swept off their feet. Zong was a thousand times more amazing then they imagined; and it was only the very beginning! Wendy even put her Walkman (that seemed to be always on her) on the floor to look around with her hands covering her eyes from the sun.

The yellow sun of Zong was almost identical to the sun of earth, just a little smaller. It was warm, caressing and loving. The air had natural freshness that was never felt on any place on earth. Conditioned air smells and feels synthetic, and as for the normal air… It was sticky, warm and humid. The sky back home was with a sick-yellowish shade, which could be felt when you're breathing. Nothing to do – its the greenhouse effect. People are fighting with it but they can't do much for now. And here… The kids felt like they have been held inside a giant smelly paper bag, and the now someone just tore it open, letting the air flow in and into their bodies. Ben smiled, closed his eyes, and – while still standing in the doorway of the shuttle base he let the sun caress him a bit. Finally he heard a small voice behind him whisper:

"Wow…"

Ben was returned to reality and to his duty as the leader by this whisper of the excited Joel. He picked up his backpack and said:

"Okay, lets move. We have to find our spot and get set up in the cave."

Moving wasn't as easy as Ben thought. It took at least five more minutes to get all the kids moving. But finally everyone was marching along behind Ben, while happily looking around. Joel was a bundle of joy. He was dragging his feet through the grass, falling every tenth step (just to smell it!), jumping up and down, constantly running back and forth, circling Ben from all possible angles. But if Joel was the only one who actually did it, every one of the kids felt it. Joel and Wendy felt like they have been in a prison all their lives and now they just got set free. Ben and Sammy just thought "Finally, we're Home."

They were all walking down a small path in the light woods that spread across this area. The cave Ben and his gang lived in for the past years was just about twenty minutes of walking from the shuttle base. He hoped to catch that spot again. It was relatively close to a food center – that was located in the shuttle base, and was right near the lake. The perfect spot to have a good time, without having unwanted visitors (the spot was far enough from the main path) and at the same time not being too far from food and a phone.

The way over to the spot was smooth, if you don't count the fact that Joel spotted a rabbit and chased it pretty deep into the woods, and everyone had to wait for him to get back. Some twenty minutes after they left the shuttle base, Just when Joel for the first time asked Ben: "So where is this spot you said we were going to and when are we gonna get there already", Ben spotted the entrance to the cave, covered with a bush. Ben moved the bush aside and the coolness of the cave surrounded him.

"Aah… Home sweet home," said Ben half-joking, half-serious.

Settling in took only half an hour. The bags were set on the ground, each one took a spot in the cave he liked and set up his stuff. But unpacking of everyone else except Ben was suddenly stopped because all the kids stood there with their mouths open and watched Ben unpack. It wasn't dark inside, there were two fairly large holes in the upper part of the far end of the cave, that provided light. But Ben knew that once it gets dark you can't see anything inside the cave, so the first thing he took out of his bag's back section were four NeoLights. NeoLights are round white lights, each in the size of a dinner tea plate, that have super-long life batteries and as an addition of their ability to work for close to 50 hours straight they also get charged from light during daytime. Handy little things, especially for dark caves! Ben stuck them on the walls, two on each side of the cave. They got securely glued in right away. Then, he took out a little rubber pack, with a little plastic pip. He pulled the pip and the pack inflated into a small but firm closet with three shelves. Then Ben took all his clothes out and sorted them on the shelves quickly. In the last shirt was something rectangular. Ben took it and unwrapped six books, five of them were normal computer books and one was an old paper book, that made everyone stare with respect. Last was a small black device, on it was written with white large letters 'Peaceful Sleep PRO' and with smaller red letters Keeps pests away all night. That was a must have in a cave that was located right next to a lake! This was a breeding point for mosquitoes. Then, Ben finally raised his head and looked at the others. He was surprised to find everyone standing in the middle of the cave and staring at him, and quickly ended it with an angry remark:

"Hey, what is this, a TV show? Go unpack your stuff!"

The kids started to move. Each one unpacked in his spot. Soon, four sleeping bags were deployed in the ground, with various piles of stuff around them. Sammy was almost as tidy as Ben was, his clothes were divided into three plastic drawers – he didn't have that neat inflatable closet – and the rest of his stuff was mounted on a large flat rock that was near the spot he picked. Wendy left most of her stuff in the bag, and took out only a few books and a little shelf to put her Walkman and music discs on. As for Joel, he just grabbed all his stuff in his backpack, swooned it out and dumped it all in a pile near his sleeping bag. It was warm, they were all a little tired from the trip, and to relax it would be perfect now to take a nice refreshing swim. And then, for the first time, Ben realized the problem of having a girl in their group: they probably couldn't go skinny-dipping. That made him a little sad: he loved taking off all his clothes and running to the lake, letting his body feel the gentle wind… Darn! he thought. But he figured they'd work around it somehow. And just at that moment, Wendy, who was going through her bag searching for something loudly said "Shit!" and then came up to Ben.

"I forgot my Walkman at the shuttle base, on the floor…" she said guiltily.

"Wow…" said Ben, thinking of what to do.

"I remember the way, I can go get it," suggested Wendy.

"Are you sure you remember? Cause I don't want you to get lost."

"No, I know how to get there, it's easy. Besides our walking path is still fresh… I'll be okay. I'll just get it and come back."

"Hmmm… Okay, fine," agreed Ben, immediately figuring out what they can do in her absence. But then he was suddenly struck by worry again, because he felt responsible, and asked one more time: "But are you sure you'll be okay? Maybe I should go with you?"

"Nah, I'll be fine, don't worry," smiled Wendy, and without wasting time immediately walked out. Ben leaned against the wall, looked around, but before he had time to do anything Sammy tapped him on the shoulder. Ben turned around and just by looking at him immediately understood that Sammy was thinking the same things exactly. They smiled to each other, and nodded their heads. Now, the problem was how to brake it to Joel that they are going skinny dipping.

Ben carefully approached the boy that was busy with a video game already, and said slowly:

"Um… Joel, check this out… We were thinking that maybe we'll go take a dip in the lake… So… Do you wanna come with us or…"

Joel didn't let him finish. He threw aside the video game and, while screaming "Yeah, Swimming!!!" he ran out of the cave. Ben and Sammy looked at each other and ran out behind him. It took them about 30 seconds to get to the lake. When they got here, Joel was throwing his shirt aside, his shorts followed and finally he quickly got rid of his underwear. All of this happened in a split second, neither Ben nor Sammy had any time to react. The next thing they saw was Joel's nude miniature body running into the water and jumping head first into the lake. His legs flashed in the sun and disappeared bellow the water, then after a few moments his head appeared. He had a big ear-to-ear smile on his face, as he shook his head quickly making water drops splash all around him. Ben and Sammy looked at each other again. They finally got back control over themselves, and needed no more encouragement. In an instant they pealed off their clothes and were running towards the water, with hands spread wide apart to feel the crystal-clear-chilly wind gently warp their naked bodies…

>>next chapter–green>>

NEXT PART